Baby Mine
by Isabel5
Summary: Puck shows up at Rachel's house after he leaves Shelby's.  He needed someone to talk to and she was the first person he thought of. One-Shot.


**Title: **Baby Mine

**Fandom**: Glee  
><strong>Pairing<strong>: Puck/Rachel (Friendship)  
><strong>Rating<strong>: PG-13 for language  
><strong>Spoilers<strong>: I Am Unicorn  
><strong>Word Count:<strong>1,403  
><strong>Disclaimer:<strong> Don't own Glee

**Summary: **A small missing scene from I Am Unicorn. Puck shows up at Rachel's house after he leaves Shelby. He needed someone to talk to and she was the first person he thought of. 

Rachel quietly hummed _There's A Place for Us _to herself as she walked back into her room, turning the bathroom light off. _Teeth brushed, hair combed, face washed_, she mentally went through her pre-bed checklist as she pulled the comforter back. The doorbell rang suddenly, cutting harshly through the still house and making Rachel jump in the air.

It was almost eleven at night, certainly not an appropriate time for visitors. Rachel walked out into the hallway and ran smack into her dad who was coming out of his room, a baseball bat held tightly in his grip. She frowned at him.

"A baseball bat?" she whispered.

"In case it's a burglar." He said.

"Honestly Leroy," Rachel's daddy stepped out of the room and around the two of them. "What kind of burglar rings the doorbell?"

Hiram tied the belt of his robe and walked down the steps. Leroy followed, not letting go of the bat and Rachel followed him, clutching tightly to the back of his robe as they made their way down the steps.

"Mr. Puckerman," Hiram said surprised when he opened the door and stepped aside to let the boy in.

"Noah?" Rachel stepped out from behind her dad confused.

"I uh…" Puck turned away from Rachel to address Hiram. "I'm sorry Mr. Berry," he nodded at Leroy. "Um, other Mr. Berry." He said lamely. "I realize it's kinda late and it's a school night and all but I was wondering if I could talk to Rachel. Just for a little while."

"I don't think—"

"Daddy, it's fine," Rachel took a few steps forward and he turned around and raised an eyebrow at her. "I mean, if it's alright with you."

"Not too long ok," Hiram said.

"I promise," Puck nodded, ducking his head as he walked toward the stairs.

"Door open," Leroy called after them.

"Honey, you can put the bat down now." Hiram pointed out.

"Not just yet," Leroy shook his head. "Did you see the boy's haircut?"

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Rachel watched confused as Puck paced back and forth in front of her bed. They'd been up in her room for almost five minutes and he had yet to say anything. "Noah?" she asked, snapping him out of his daze and bringing him back to the present.

"Sorry, I don't want to like bother you or anything, it's just I didn't want to go home yet and you're really the only other person who could understand cause you're kind of a part of the whole thing and I mean-we're friends right?" Puck asked her.

"Of course we're friends." Rachel smiled.

"Good," Puck took a deep breath and then let it out collapsing down onto the edge of Rachel's bed. "I went and saw Beth tonight."

"Oh," Rachel dropped down next to him, stunned. She should have seen this coming, she really should have. She knew Shelby was back in town so obviously that meant that Beth was with her. It's not like she was going to move somewhere without her daughter—well without _this_ daughter.

"She's so fucking beautiful," Puck continued, the words spilling out of him so fast. "She's got these little blonde curls that sort of frame her face and Shelby says she kind of looks like me but all I could see was Quinn." Rachel smiled and nodded.

_All he could see was Quinn_. The idea of her mother raising a little girl who looked like Quinn, of singing her to sleep at night and soothing her when she had a nightmare and pushing her stroller through the park hit Rachel like a ton of bricks and she felt her breath catch in her throat.

"Shelby says she loves music. I mean obviously she loves music but we put it on this kids show and Beth stood up and started dancing, I mean she was just like shaking back and forth but she's not even two and already she's got more rhythm then Finn."

A laugh escaped Rachel before she could stop it and she looked over at Puck. The look on his face as he talked about his daughter was one of pure, absolute joy. She'd never seen him like this. Not when he talked about football, not when he talked about music and not even when he talked about sex.

"At first she was kind of freaked out you know, because she didn't remember me, but after a while she let me hold her and—" Puck turned to Rachel and stopped at the look on her face. "Are you…ok with all this? You know Shelby being back and all."

"I'm fine." Rachel brushed him off. "We had a nice talk and agreed to keep things civil and professional."

"Right," Puck said. "That sounds…like complete bullshit."

Rachel laughed again. "It does, doesn't it?"

"Shit Rach, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said anything, I shouldn't have even come here." Puck pushed himself up off the bed and Rachel grabbed his wrist.

"No it's fine, really," she said, forcing herself to smile even bigger. "I want to hear about Beth."

"Rachel, you're crying," Puck said. She brought a hand up to her face and was surprised when her fingertips came back damp.

"They're happy tears," Rachel protested and Puck crossed his arms over her chest, not buying it. "Most of them are happy tears." She pulled him back down to the mattress and took a deep breath. "I know how hard it was for you to give her up. I remember what you were like the first few days after you gave her up and I'm so glad that you're getting a chance to get to know her and to be a part of her life. And yes it's hard to think of my mo—to think of Shelby being a mom to someone else. But this isn't about her and it isn't about me. This is about you and Beth." Rachel said firmly, wiping away her tears and smiling again, a real smile this time. "So tell me everything."

Puck stared at her for a second before smiling back. "I've got a picture if you want to see," he said pulling his phone out hesitantly and Rachel nodded. "Shelby took it and sent it to me," he said as he pulled the picture up.

"Noah," Rachel gasped, reaching out slowly to take the phone from him. "My God, she's so beautiful."

"I know," he said, gushing proudly.

"She's got your nose," Rachel said pointing to the picture.

"You think?" Puck looked closer.

"Obviously," Rachel nodded. "It's a strong Jewish nose. It hasn't grown in fully yet but trust me as a girl who's spent her whole life with her nose entering a room five minutes before she does, I can tell." Puck laughed. "But seriously. She's amazing."

"She is," Puck took the phone back and put it in his pocket. "Shelby says I can see her again, maybe even this weekend. We might take her to the park."

"That's great Noah, I'm really happy for you." Rachel said sincerely.

"Well maybe, I mean if you wanted, you could…" he trailed off and Rachel just shook her head at him.

"As much as I would love to met Beth and see the two of you together. I don't think I'm ready for that yet."

"I get it," Puck said. "Don't worry." He stood up and walked to the door. "I should probably get going before your dad busts in here with the baseball bat."

"Noah," Rachel called out and he stopped and turned around. "Do me a favor. Just…make sure you tell her how much you love her, and how much you want to be a part of her life. It really does mean a lot, just…just knowing that."

"Yeah, of course," Puck nodded. "Thanks for listening."

"Anytime," Rachel assured him. "Just, you know, maybe not so late at night."

"I'll keep that in mind for next time," Puck said as he walked out of her room.

Rachel went back to her pre-bed checklist and just as she was closing her eyes, her phone beeped with a new text message. She grabbed it off of the bedside table and opening it confused. It was the picture of Puck and Beth. He'd sent it to her with a message.

_I thought you might…I don't know. Whatever_.

Rachel smiled and saved the picture to her phone.


End file.
